Page 86 - Leadership Lessons of the White House Fellows

LEADERS ROOT OUT PREJUDICE IN THEMSELVES AND OTHERS

startling that sixty years after President Harry Truman integrated the mil-
itary, senior-grade black officers are still such a rarity.
Stanley credited his faith with carrying him through the bias he faced
his entire career and the tragedy that befell his family in 1975. “Through
all this our faith was strong, our marriage got stronger, and we have a very
fine daughter. After that happened with Roz being shot and my uncle being
killed right in front of me, I thought, shoot, this is my life, right here. There
are more important things than what someone else thinks of me, particularly
if they’re biased. I literally went off into the stratosphere in terms of my
perspective. I have a lot of things to be thankful for, and I know that even
the hardships in my life have been a blessing for me.”
Stanley became the U.S. Marine Corps’ first-ever African-American
regimental commander and was one of the corps’ highest-ranking African
Americans when he retired in 2002 as a two-star general, and he had earned
those stars through a fierce determination to triumph over adversity. Over
the years he became a caring mentor to hundreds—especially African Amer-
icans—both enlisted and officers. He knew that those young people would
have a tough time finding high-ranking role models of their own race, and
so he reached out to them, counseling them and supporting them in their
jobs and their personal lives. Throughout his career, he was sensitive to dis-
crimination and ensured that wherever he went there was a level playing
field and that everyone was judged on the basis of competence and charac-
ter. Stanley turned down a third star to pursue his lifelong interest in higher
education when he became executive vice president at the University of
Pennsylvania, where he received a doctorate in education through his thesis,
“The Importance of Character Development in Colleges and Universities.”
In 2004, he became the chief executive officer of Scholarship America,
which has distributed nearly $2 billion to more than 1.5 million students so
that they can go to college.
Indeed, leaders are always ready to lend a hand to others, especially
those most in need of a lift. A sure sign that a true leader is in charge is
when everyone in that workplace knows he or she will get a fair shake. One
man who specialized in dealing out fair shakes was Secretary of Trans-
portation John A. Volpe. The son of Italian immigrants, Volpe had
launched his own construction business before beginning his political
career and being elected governor of Massachusetts in 1960. During his
time as governor, Volpe signed legislation that promoted equality in

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